Feedback Was Lacking

Team,

I hope all enjoyed the weekend and are preparing for this week of learning.  I gave out copies of the Diagnostic Review results last week (additional copies available in the office) and I trust that you reviewed the document to examine the three improvement priorities and documented evidential observations we received to serve as high leverage objectives to accelerate our growth as a school.  Summarizing the findings, our priorities include (paraphrased):

• Improved two-way communication with all stakeholders to support academic and behavioral success for students
• Improved systemic clarity for delivery of core instruction based on Kentucky Academic Standards, bell-to-bell instruction, clear systems for analysis of student work and assessment data, and systemic next steps all to include high yield strategies for instruction and next steps for intervention
• Improved systems for school-wide behavior to minimize disruptions to the learning environment to maximize time for differentiated instruction to support student achievement

These improvement priorities impact the work of each staff member in our school, each student in our school, each family that our school partners with and supports and our community who supports us and we give back to.  These are contractual obligations that we accepted when we signed our employment contracts.

From a leadership standpoint, a blaring shortcoming was the implementation of consistent feedback and use of walkthrough and evaluation data trends to support staff improvement needs and professional development.  While I thought this was moving in the correct direction, I accept that this has to be an area of more intense focus.  This is being corrected immediately.  I want to apologize to those who have not received the attention to instructional and behavioral growth needed to maximize instructional time and increase student proficiency.  In the day-to-day details of managing the building, I have neglected to consistently follow up and ensure that everyone is getting the individualized feedback to succeed and the model to give this same attention to students.

I'm owning it and moving forward with great purpose in this work.  I expect us all to approach this with the same growth mindset and provide feedback to all stakeholders as well as support our two-way communication.

This week we have extended plan times for collaborative teams and I am committed to providing this time at least each six weeks.  I recognize this is a step and I hope we find ways to make more time available for this important work.  If you have ideas to implement this even more frequently than the six week interval, I am open to suggestions (but do be mindful of the barrier with sub coverage).

Faculty meeting is for committee work this week.  

Be purposeful and collaborative,

Dr. White